The Power (of Pain)
by Gwyfyn Anweladwy
Summary: A young woman comes to Professor Xavier's School, intending to take her sister away. The secrets she carries (and the woman she protects) are more dangerous than the Professor can imagine. The new doctor at the School falls in love with her, but even he can't protect her from those she loves-and from the power within her. Rated for one scene of gore. OC, non-canon.
1. Chapter 1

Although set in the X-Men movie universe, this story isn't set in any particular time. For example, Jane Grey and Scott are gone, but the Professor is still alive and running the school. The main characters are my own creations, but I obviously have no claim on anything else!

* * *

"I want to talk to the Professor." The young woman sat slouched over in the corner chair, barely looking up through her bangs as she spoke. From Storm's perspective, the woman appeared barely eighteen, eighteen and much too skinny, although it was difficult to tell under the baggy clothes and terrible posture. The woman had been sitting when she came in, and hadn't stood.

"What do you need to speak to him about?"

The woman's fingers twitched under her sleeves. "About Saoirse."

For a moment Storm's mind ran through the students, then stopped on a twelve-year-old with red curls and a minor ability to control animals. "Saoirse Faolan?" A good student, although the staff suspected she was using pigeons to send messages to someone. Still…

"Yeah." The woman nodded under the shroud of hair.

"What do you want with her?"

The woman stood, stretching out to a height greater than Storm's own, but still hunched into the oversized sweater. Storm felt a prickling traveling up her nerves, but refused to flinch. The mirrored sunglasses the woman wore reflected the lights overhead as she looked up.

"I'm her sister."


	2. Chapter 2

"Professor." Storm stood almost uncertainly in his doorway. "There's a woman here that needs to see you."

Professor Xavier looked up from the boy he was tutoring, frowning at his second-in-command. "Are you all right?"

For a moment she seemed confused, then shook her head slightly. "Yes, just… tired."

"You can go now, John." Xavier waited until the boy went out, then, "Storm?"

The white-haired woman shook her head again. "I'll let you talk to her."

"Professor."

The woman that slouched into the room was tall, lanky, obviously emaciated and her gaze was downcast, eyes hidden behind the sunglasses.

"Come in." He drove out from behind the desk, pointing to a chair. "Sit down. What did you need to talk to me about?"

"I'm Rionach Faolan." The woman had a rich, soft and just barely Irish accent. She slumped into the chair, not meeting his eyes. "I guess you were told about our father's death last month. I'm Saoirse's legal guardian now. I want to take Saoirse out of school." She took an envelope out of her threadbare coat, handing it to him.

Xavier put on his glasses, glancing over them at the woman huddled in the chair as he inspected the documents. The details were all there. Rionach Faolan—surprisingly, aged twenty-five—had been appointed her younger sister's legal guardian by the court only three days before. He wondered why he hadn't heard of this. It had been his understanding that Niall Faolan had left custody of his youngest daughter to the School.

"Do you mind if I make a call and confirm this?"

"Of course not." Rionach twisted a finger in her tangled hair. One foot kicked incessantly under the chair.

Four phone calls later, he looked back up at the woman sitting at his desk. Rionach hadn't moved in the twenty minutes, except for the pendulum-like swinging of her carefully patched boot. Every once in a while he could see her lips moving softly, as if she were talking—or counting—to herself.

"Well, it seems everything is in order." The people he had spoken to had been mostly apologetic. The court recorder, a friend and mother of one of the students, had been sure she had called him to attend the hearing, and was confused. Apparently Niall had changed his will only two weeks before his death, leaving his younger daughter's care to the older. The estate was bankrupt, and the old house both girls had grown up in was being sold to pay the debts and death tax.

"When can I leave with Saoirse?" Rionach's voice startled him from his thoughts.

He looked at her. This young woman didn't look as if she were caring for herself. He wondered how she planned to care for a gifted mutant child. "You do know what your sister is?"

For a moment her eyes steadied on him, and her voice was clear. "Yes, she is a young girl."

"I was referring to her gift."

"She talks to dogs." Rionach rubbed her forehead tiredly, and her sleeve slipped slightly. The veins across the back of her hand were too large, and the skin inflamed. "If you're asking do I know that she's a—mutant—yes I do. I also know what's been done to mutants in the past two years. I don't want Saoirse persecuted for her—gift. I want her to have a chance to grow up normally."

"And you think you can give her a normal life?" He tried to say it gently, but her head jerked up, and he could feel the burn in her eyes from behind the sunglasses. His own head ached briefly, then she looked away.

"The court obviously thought so. I didn't come to argue this with you, Professor. I came to get my sister. Where is she?"

He sighed. "She's in her Ancient History class. If you could wait until she's finished, I'd ask you to have lunch with me."

She looked up, her hair fell back, and for a moment a range of emotions crossed her features—surprise, suspicions, sadness, a smile—and she was almost beautiful. "All right, Professor. Thank you."

* * *

The new doctor at the School was a man, Dr. Julian Simon, a mutant with mild pyrotechnic abilities and a natural talent for talking people into doing whatever he wished, an ability that was only bearable combined with his soft compassionate touch and somewhat gruff concern for his student patients. After his mutant power was discovered during a mishap he had lost his privileges at a University hospital in Seattle, as well as the bulk of his practice, and had thankfully been discovered by Storm and hired to fill Dr. Grey's high-dollar high heels. A role he had been wise enough not to attempt. His interest had always been the practice—not the research—of medicine. It had taken him a few months, but he had won—if not always the affection—at least the acceptance of both the staff and the students. The younger students called him Doctor Sparky behind his back, never noticing his smile when he overheard them. Not yet forty, he missed the challenge of his old position, and although his patients fascinated him with their varied powers, most of his days were spent in relative monotony doing physicals and bandaging the occasional scratch and burn suffered in "practice". He hadn't tried to make friends among the staff, so Professor Xavier's invitation to lunch had been odd—if welcome.

"I need an opinion, Dr. Simon." The Professor had said. "There's a young lady here who wants to take her sister out of school, and I would like you to join us for lunch."

"Do you want me to try to talk her into keeping her sister here?" He had asked.

"No." The Professor had sounded thoughtful. "No, Doctor, I need a medical opinion. Rionach—that's the young lady's name—has legal custody of her sister, but… there's something odd about her. She could be ill, or... she doesn't seem well. I just want you to observe her and give me your opinion."

Dr. Simon never had any trouble giving his opinions.


	3. Chapter 3

They had both been sitting in the cafeteria when he went in, the Professor with his wheelchair drawn up to the table, the woman slumped over in her own chair with one knee drawn up to her chest. A few of the other students were looking over at them, but no one else approached. He wondered if Xavier were telepathically warning them away. The Professor usually took lunch in his office, but he assumed that the older man had thought it easier for the doctor to 'drop in' if they ate with the other students. The room was crowded with the lunch hour.

"Professor." He looked from one to the other. "It's nice to see you."

"And you, Mr. Simon." The Professor nodded to the silent woman across from him. "This is Rionach Faolan. She is Saoirse's sister. Miss Faolan, this is Julian Simon, one of our staff members here."

The telepathic nudge touched his mind. _Don't tell her who you are, Dr. Simon. She's paranoid and I can't read her._

So the Professor didn't want her to know he was a doctor. He smiled, both to her and to himself as he stepped forward. "It's nice to meet you." He held out a hand and the woman hesitated before untucking her own hand from the folds of her sweater. Her grip was light and weak, and her skin clammy. He could see the beat of her heart in her prominent veins. It was no wonder the Professor wanted him to surreptitiously examine this woman. She appeared as if she could collapse at any moment, and behind the sunglasses—incongruous in the shaded corner—her face was pale and her cheeks sunken. His interest was instantly peaked. It had been so long since he had treated someone who actually needed him. Someone who was actually _not_ a mutant. She looked malnourished, and her fingernails were uneven and cracked.

"We're just about to eat." The Professor looked at him. "Why don't you join us?"

"My pleasure." He pulled up an empty chair from a nearby table and angled it toward Rionach as he sat. "So, are you here to visit Saoirse?"

Her breath rattled in her throat as she spoke. "No… I'm here to take her home."

He frowned, pretending to be surprised. "Any particular reason?"

For a moment her lips quivered, then she shrugged. "I want her to have a normal life."

He smiled. "Well, I have to admit this isn't a normal school, but then if your sister is here, she isn't a normal girl."

A spot of color appeared on her cheeks. "She could be." She turned her head slightly. "Have you ever suffered for who you are, Mr. Simon?"

For a moment the memory came, the fire in the hospital, the soldiers, the screams of the frightened patients and interns, the anger of—

"Yes." There was a tingling along his spine and his head throbbed.

She looked back down at the table, tucking her hands tighter under her arms. "I don't want Saoirse to suffer."

"Here's your meal, Professor." One of the young waiters set the tray down between them. "Did you want something, Do—Mr. Simon?"

He caught the Professor's eye and smiled to himself. The young man seemed dazed for a moment. Xavier's telepathic wrangling again.

Across the table, Rionach's head jerked up for a moment, and she glanced at the boy. The sudden movement caught his attention as much as the sudden spread of color in her cheeks, and he watched her.

"Did you want something, Dr. Simon?" The waiter repeated himself, then turned red.

Rionach stood. "Excuse me. You can send my sister up to her room after her class, Professor. I'll be packing for her. It was nice to meet you, _Doctor_."


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you to everyone who has read and followed my story. Desideria79 this update, these next chapters are for you!

* * *

"Wait!" Julian caught up to her as she was halfway up the stairs. Of course she didn't take the elevator. He suspected that her paranoia would extend to claustrophobia in small, enclosed and uncontrollable places.

Rionach turned partially, then kept climbing. "Did you want something, _Doctor_ Simon?"

"To talk to you." He followed her, trying to catch his breath, surprised by the firm grace of her steps.

"Did the Professor send you?"

He hesitated, then held out the toasted cheese sandwich. From behind her, he could see the blades of her shoulders protruding through the thin sweater. "Yes."

She turned, eyes still hidden behind the mirrored lenses, but watchful. For a moment she faced him, then took the sandwich. "Thank you for not lying about it."

"Can I help you pack?"

She stopped at the door, scanning the room with the sandwich still clutched in her hand, not moving to take a bite. Her shoulders still slumped slightly, but her chin was firm. "I thought you were supposed to talk me into keeping her here."

"Is that possible?" They both went in.

"No."

"Then why should I waste my time?"

"Because you're the persistent sort?" As she moved to pick up one of the stuffed toys on the bed, he noticed she was wearing a silver ring on her thumb, the tiny letters engraved on its wide band catching the light as she moved. _Freak._ Was that her opinion of them… or of herself?

For a moment she stared at the plush animal, turning it over as she blinked. "This was mine before it was Saoirse's. I gave it to her when we were separated." She cradled it for a moment in her hands, and her lips quivered. "I'm glad she still has it."

The floppy eared dog was worn and threadbare, and one of the painted-on eyes had been smeared until it looked as if it were crying.

"How long has it been since you've seen her?"

For a moment she was silent, holding the dog against her chest. "Seven years."

The shock made the words leap to his tongue before he could stop them. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I lived with my mother."

"Your parents were divorced?"

"You could say that." She pulled a roll of heavy garbage bags from a pocket of her cargo pants and began tossing the few things on the desk in. "My mother was… ill. My father didn't trust Saoirse with her, but Momma needed help. So I stayed."

Only eighteen words, summarizing a lifetime of pain and regret. He sat down on the bed. _'Coup de foudre'_ as the French said, love that came like a clap of thunder and he was lost. This was one of the shabbiest women he had ever met and yet—

"Rionach."

"Hmm?" She turned and suddenly a smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. She took a bite of the toasted cheese, speaking around the food in her mouth. "You're not really helping me pack."

"I don't want you to go."

"I don't belong here."

He tried to inject all the concern and gentleness he was capable of into his voice. Anyone else he could have persuaded. There was something different about this girl. "Your sister does."

Her hands shook. "My sister is not something to be tucked away into a special school and treated differently—"

"She is different."

For a moment she glared at him and a migraine exploded in his head. He put a hand to his forehead and she spun away, stalking to the window, dropping the half-eaten sandwich in the bin. Through the haze of sudden pain he saw her clench her fists and slam them into her pockets. She turned to look at him and her face softened.

"I'm going to be right back." She pulled a bottle from her pocket. "You want an aspirin?"

"It's just a headache."

"I'm sorry."

He smiled at her. "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is."

She went out.


	5. Chapter 5

I've been sick and not on the internet but I have been writing. Thus, three more chapters in a row.

* * *

The Professor was disturbed as he returned to his office. The waiter had apologized profusely—although he had been obviously confused as to what he felt guilty about—and Xavier had soothed him, making him forget the incident. The boy had forgotten, but he couldn't. His control had never slipped before. For a moment he frowned, staring at Rionach's papers on his desk, then picked up the phone. It had begun clicking over to voice mail before he heard Storm's voice. She sounded terrible.

"Storm?"

"Yes." There was a breathlessness to her tone.

He frowned. "Are you all right?"

"I'm—I think I must be coming down with the flu. What did you need?"

He looked again at the papers on his desk, and a chill began to seize him. "Nothing. Take the rest of the afternoon off and rest. I'll send Julian up to your room." As he hung up he pressed the intercom on his desk.

"Get the Cerebro ready."

* * *

"What's going on?"

Julian was awoken by the inquiry of a clear tenor, and removed the arm he had thrown across his face to see abnormally large turquoise eyes inches from his own. Saoirse Faolan's round and innocent face swam into perspective as she leaned back.

"Doctor Simon?" Her voice was a smoother version of her sister's, the Irish accent barely apparent in her words. "Are you okay?"

He closed his mouth, swallowing against the bile in his throat, blinking, trying to remember why he was sleeping on the student's bed. His headache was gone.

" _Sissy_."

The voice came from behind him, and the red-haired girl spun around. " _Rio_." There was a horror in her pronunciation of the word.

He sat up and turned to look just as Rionach stepped through the door. "Hello, little sister." Her voice was tired, sad. "You look… beautiful."

"You look like hell." The younger girl began to back away, her blue eyes wide. "I'm not going with you."

Rionach's head dropped, and she looked at the floor. "It's just me here, Sissy."

Saoirse wilted. "Did you—did you leave her?"

Rionach nodded. "She wants you now. I'm not going to let that happen."

"Why me? Weren't you enough? I thought you could control her!" Saoirse grabbed the plush dog from beside him, wrapping her arms around it as she hugged it to her chest.

Rionach spread her hands, a sad smile pulling at her lips as she spoke. "I'm not well."

He wanted to say something to that, but it felt as if his tongue were paralyzed in his mouth. Rionach looked at him as she began emptying the armoire drawers into her sack. Her eyes fastened on him, and he realized that, for the first time, she wasn't wearing her sunglasses. Her eyes shone oddly, their irises a shimmering color he had never seen before—metallic silver-blue, as flat and mirrored as the lenses of her shades. "Aren't you going to answer that call, Dr. Simon?"

"Hmm?" He blinked rapidly.

"Storm? She's sick. You were supposed to go check her."

For a moment his nerves crawled, then he remembered: the call, the anxiety in the Professor's voice… something about a possible flu. "Oh—of course. I'll go now." He stood automatically. "It was nice meeting you, Miss Faolan."

She smiled.

* * *

"You shouldn't do that." Saoirse eyed her older sister as Rio went to the closet. Her sister was taller than she remembered, thinner too, although her few memories were not clear. She had been practically a baby when Rionach left, and her father had refused to even let them write to each other. He had never forgiven his older daughter for staying with their mother. Neither he nor Saoirse had ever forgiven her mother. But, still… she hadn't been mad at Rio. Rio had protected her, and had obviously paid the price. It was as if their mother had sucked the life from her sister, and it made her want to scream—or cry.

"I can't help who I am any more than you can, little sister. What was I supposed to do?" Rionach continued throwing clothes and shoes into the bags, and Saoirse winced at the sudden jab behind her eyes.

Instantly Rionach spun around, her face a mask of pain and she gripped her temples. "I'm sorry. Are you all right?"

Saoirse nodded, and Rionach shook her head. Her fingers were cold against Saoirse's chin. "Maybe you're not safe with me either."

"You're not her."

For a moment, Rionach looked at her, and her eyes were sad. "Maybe I am."

"No." She pushed away from her sister's hand. She refused to believe it.

Rionach closed her eyes, turning away. "I'm going to take you somewhere safe."

"I'm safe here."

Her sister shook her head again. "Not if she wants to get to you."

This time it was Saoirse's turn to be angry. Her life had been happy, finally, and now it was shattering around her. "How did you live with her?"

"Carefully. I made her sleep. I made her dream." For a moment she shrugged. "But she's getting stronger, and I'm getting weaker. I'm not enough for her anymore. She's moving on." Rionach twisted the bags closed and looked around the room. "Is there anything else you want to bring?"

"Just my treasure box. I'll get it." She bent to reach under the bed, and the phone on the armoire rang.

Rionach looked at it, and as she turned the light flashed across her eyes, causing a prism effect on the silver irises. "Don't answer that."


	6. Chapter 6

"They aren't answering." The Professor clicked off and looked at the two people in his office. Julian was lounging on the ensuite sofa, and Kitty Pryde was sitting primly on the chair across from him. He realized at that moment how much he missed Jean and Scott. Even if Wolverine was here…but maybe it was better he wasn't.

The doctor looked at him. "I'll go up and check. One of the students must have seen them."

"No." Xavier put up a hand quickly. "I was waiting for Bobby and Rogue, but I'm going to tell you this now. I used the Cerebro. Rionach is a blank."

"She's not human?" It was Kitty Pryde that voiced the question, but both mutants looked at him expectedly.

"I'm not sure." The Professor drove his wheelchair to the window, looking out. "As far as I can tell, she just not there at all." For a moment all were silent, then the Professor turned. "Julian, how is Storm?"

For a moment he was looked confused, then blinked and met the Professor's eyes. The Professor could already tell that his doctor was interested in the older Faolan girl—that was obvious—but he was a doctor first, and the medical question had focused his mind. "She had a very bad headache that's caused her nausea, Professor. I'd like to run a CT scan, maybe do some blood work later, because she doesn't have a history, in her family, of migraines, but I don't think they will show much. I think it's just a migraine."

"She's never had a migraine before."

"No, but I also had one earlier. We might want to check the ventilation for mold, or some other—"

"Neither of you had a migraine until Rionach came."

Julian put a hand to his forehead, and his brow wrinkled. "That's true. You think—"

"I think we'd better find her. Be careful."

Kitty Pryde nodded as she walked through the door. Julian sighed and opened it. "I'll be careful, Professor."

* * *

"Close your eyes." Rionach carefully laid her hand over her sister's as they moved down the corridor. The clothes and other things had been left in the room, and only the treasure box bumped against her leg, buttoned inside the pocket of her cargo pants as she grasped the toy dog tightly. She could feel the odd twinge in her mind as the focus of the two below her became apparent. They were coming for her. Apparently the Professor was still suspicious. His device had stolen most of what was left of her energy, as he had tried his best to ascertain what she was.

 _I am nothing_.

"Is it her?" Saoirse's blue eyes turned to her, already drowning.

She reached out, felt her mother's approach, and shrugged. "She's coming, but she isn't close yet. The others here, though, they want to ask questions. We have to get away before they do."

"Why don't you just tell them about her?"

Why? Because—for a moment she was angry too. Because she loved her mother. Because she was like her mother. She was tired, and her body ached, and her head was fragmenting, and—

Saoirse held her temples and Rionach groaned. _Stop it! Stop it!_ She was as dangerous as her mother was; _she had her mother's abilities_. What right did she have to try to protect Saoirse? There was only one way she could protect her, the way that she had controlled her mother, and it was almost too late for that.

"I'm sorry." She tightened her grip on her sister's hand. It was soft and warm in hers, and she didn't slow as she caught the smaller girl under the arms, lifting her as she fell. _Sleep now, Sissy. Sleep now_ …

She began to run.

* * *

Sometimes people had believed that one of Julian's special abilities was speed. It was not. He was abnormally fast, but that was from years of training, not from any mutant cells. He outran Kitty Pryde now, although it didn't matter as she cut through walls and doors.

"Where are they?" He already knew what she would say as she came through the wall next to him, huffing.

"The room is empty. All of Saoirse's things are still there, as far as I can tell, but her and her sister are gone."

"Did you check under the bed, or in the closet? What about the bathroom?"

"Not there." She flipped open her cell, putting it to her ear. "I'm calling the Professor."

"I'll keep looking." He jogged down the hall, rounding the corner before moving into a full sprint.

* * *

Each gasp for breath tore like fire through Rionach's throat and chest. Saoirse was getting heavier, and her legs were protesting the weight. She could feel the determination of the people chasing them. She didn't have the energy to extend her awareness in both directions, so she chose to focus on her mother. Perhaps they thought she was dangerous. Perhaps she was. But she knew the real danger, and she also knew the real victim. It was Saoirse. Not her. In this twisted reality show, she was neither aggressor nor victim. She was the pendulum, nothing more.

She had to save Saoirse. Even if the people behind her thought that they were saving Saoirse from her. As her mother drew closer to her mind she gathered what was left of her strength and slammed her mind into her mother's, forcing her back, pushing the sleep from her brain into her mother's. The sleep was a natural ability, not a given one, but the pain of her mother's power stole her breath. She could feel her strength oozing out of her, but she held on until her mother fell.

Then she did, too.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you so much to those (two) of you who reviewed this story. I appreciate it so much! For EluredandElurin, thank you for pointing out my "double" chapter. Oops...How embarrassing...

This is my first story for fanfiction, and I'm new to this site. I appreciate every one who is following my story, has favorited it or (please?) reviewed it. You're all so kind to let me play with this world and do non-canon AND original characters!

So...Here we go again...

* * *

When Rionach woke there was a needle in her arm, a sheet over her legs, and the annoying beep of a heart monitor threatening to split her head. She groaned, and instantly a hand was cupping her face. She recognized the touch instantly.

"Rionach?"

"Ugh." She put a hand to her forehead. The pain was back, stronger than usual. Back inside her, which was where it belonged.

"Is your headache bad?"

She started to laugh, choked, and groaned again. There hadn't been even a trace of amusement in Dr. Simon's voice. "Saoirse?"

"She's fine." He smiled, running a warm thumb across her cheek. "I released her yesterday. She's back in school."

She looked at the ceiling, avoiding his eyes, wondering how much they had been able to figure out. _Did they know?_ "How long?"

"Today's Wednesday."

She had come to the school Monday. _Two days_ … "And everyone else…" The breath caught in her throat as her chest tightened. _They're going to hate me_. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone."

"I know." A pause, still without rancor. "I'll get you something for your headache."

She waited until he had turned away, then sat up carefully, blinking away the dizziness and nausea. The IV needle jabbed her and she reached down and jerked it out, instantly feeling better, ripping the EKG nodes from her chest as well, struggling free like a fly from a web. There was a fuzziness droning in her head, and she couldn't sense anything. She couldn't find her mother, and it scared her.

"For the sake of—" Julian came back, holding a syringe, and glared at the dangling tubing.

She couldn't help her shudder. "What was in that?"

"A concoction the Professor and I put together. A very mild sedative, psychotropics and a beta blocker. It seemed to work." He sat the syringe down, pulled a tray up to the bed. "I'd better reinsert it now. Believe me, you need it."

"No." She tucked her hands under her arms, curling away from him. "I can't feel anyone."

"You also can't hurt anyone." He said it gently, but she flinched.

"I don't want to hurt anyone. Usually I can control it. I was just tired."

For a moment he frowned, as if he would protest, then he sat down, folding his own hands. "Would it help to talk to someone?"

She sighed, almost a laugh. "I suppose by someone you mean the Professor?"

"I'll get him."

"No." she looked at him through her hair. "The Professor's never hurt anyone with his—power. You have. I'd rather talk to you."

He hesitated then spun to pull up a tray, rolling closer to her. "Give me your hand." She flinched and he took her by the wrist, pulling her hand to his, his fingers pressing briefly to her pulse. "I got to bandage that puncture. So talk. I'd like to know how you know what you know about me."

"You still have nightmares about it." She watched him wipe the blood away. "The fire at the hospital. I can—read dreams, mostly through touch. I can also make people dream—I can make them fall asleep."

His smile looked forced. "So that's why you always look as if you're half asleep."

She shook her head. "I haven't slept more than a few minutes at a time in—almost five years now. I don't want…"

Her chest was quivering as she remembered. "I should have gone to one of those clinics. Had my power taken away and become normal again. My father hated mutants. He wouldn't have married my mother, had he know what she was. He came to hate her, too, but I couldn't—" She took a quick breath, feeling the vice clamp down on her chest. She could feel her mother stir. "I thought it would be better if I was with my mother. I didn't know—"

He looked up at her sharply. "Breathe, Rionach. Just breathe."

"I can't do this." She pulled her hand from his again, wrapping her arms around herself, rocking at the edge of the bed. "I'm not what I used to be. I thought it be okay. I thought I could control it better than she—I love my mother, but I didn't know that—that—I didn't know I would—I don't want to hurt people."

"Did she hurt you?"

 _I can't do this. I can't betray her. I can't do this!_ She closed her eyes tightly, hearing her heart pounding faster and faster in her ears, drowning out Julian's voice.

 _Rionach! Rio!_ His voice echoed in her head, calling out for a response she couldn't give. Then, _I'm sorry_.

 _I'm sorry too._

The needle's prick was too late. She heard him fall.


	8. Chapter 8

"Doctor Simon?" The Professor wheeled into the infirmary too quickly, the wheels of his chair skidding on the over-polished floor. "Julian!"

The doctor was lying on the floor, a full syringe inches from his open fingers. On the other side of the gurney Rionach Faolan was also sprawled, eyes open, mouth loose, chest still. The Professor lowered his chair, bending stiffly as he reached for the doctor. Julian was breathing, his heart beating steadily, but he didn't respond when Xavier shook him. He went then, to Rionach. She didn't appear to be breathing, but when he touched her, the energy shocked him. He could feel the power pulsing through her, but this time, there was no pain. For a moment he hesitated, then pushed himself from the wheelchair, letting himself lie on the floor beside her. When he put his hand in hers she flinched, but he held on. After a moment her fingers closed around his. Then the world went dark.

* * *

 _Momma? Momma?_ It was dark, foggy, a typical night on the coast. The wooden dock was cold against her bare feet as she ran, seeing the shadowy outline of the boat as it merged into the mist. _Momma, don't go!_

 _You have to let her go, Rio._ There was firm hands on her shoulders, fingers digging to the bone, holding her back. _It's best for all of us._

 _No! Momma!_

The boat stopped. She could feel her mother's gaze, even though the beautiful face didn't turn.

 _Momma! No! She'll die without me._

She pulled free, dove forward. The water closed over her head.

Something shifted, broke.

 _Do you know what it is to be bound to me, Rionach?_ They were sitting in a dark room now, pulled backward in time, her head bowed close to her mother's over the table. _Do you know what you are about to do?_

 _I don't care. You need me._

 _What about your sister?_ She could hear her mother's voice only in her mind. _Your father will never let you see Saoirse again_.

 _Maybe, if he understood…_

 _He's not like us. He'll never understand._

She felt her fists clench, the pain shooting through her body. _But… if I can help you with the control, maybe…_

Too late.

It was over.

The control was gone in the woman who had loved her.

 _What if I lose control too?_

 _What if I hurt someone?_

She arched against the cold surface beneath her, fighting against it, against the reality that was intruding with the memory that shouldn't have been a dream. She never dreamed. What was this? What was happening?

 _I hurt someone._

She opened her eyes. There was a hand on hers, dark eyes that were close yet only slightly familiar. She flinched.

"Be calm, Miss Faolan. It's just me. I'm here."

She jerked away from the Professor's touch, and he let her go. For a moment she sat up, breathing hard. The room was dark, warm and featureless. "Where am I?"

"You're dreaming."

She looked back at him. He was faintly backlit, standing beside her, his wheelchair gone. "I can't dream alone."

"Then let's say I'm dreaming."

"Oh no." She glanced around, searching for a way out. "I try not to do this, Professor. I promise. I didn't mean to intrude."

"You didn't." He caught her arm as she started to step away. "I called you in here."

"What?" She spun to face him. "But—"

"It was the only way I could reach you. You didn't give me any other choice. I have to protect my students." He smiled slightly, only a hint of apology in the shrug of his shoulders. "I thought then, that I was protecting them from you."

"And now?" The room was circular, the walls high and solid. There was no way out. If she could only wake up… "Do you know better now?"

He nodded. "I know. Your mother."

"Oh." She slid down to sit against the wall, hugging her knees to herself.

He sat too, his shoulder barely touching hers. "I'm sorry."

"So am I." She glanced at him. "I had to protect Saoirse."

"What about you?" His voice seemed to echo oddly in the darkness.

"I thought I was doing the right thing. My father didn't understand. I thought if I could link my mind with hers, that I could help her control the outbursts—that I could keep her from hurting people."

"It didn't work?"

For a moment she couldn't say anything. The tears were cold against her cheeks. "The dreams never hurt anyone before. I realized, too late. Then all I could do was make her sleep. And I couldn't. I didn't dare let her go. But I could read her dreams, and I knew what she wanted. I wasn't enough for her. She wanted Saoirse. I couldn't let her hurt my sister the same way she hurt me. I thought if I could get Saoirse away, if I could keep her safe—"

His voice was soft, unjudging. "You didn't think we could keep her safe?"

His hand was warm on her arm, and she shrugged it off, wiping away the tears. It had been so long since anyone had cared.

Her father hadn't. He'd believed she deserved her fate. He hadn't even trusted Saoirse to her.

"I didn't want my mother hurt either. I still loved her."

"Rionach," he watched her, "what are you going to do?"

She straightened, pressing back against the wall, feeling the first give in its solidity. "I'm going to do what I have to do, what my mother asked me to do so long ago. I'm going to protect my sister." She reached out, pressing his hand as he began to fade out. "Take care of Saoirse for me."


	9. Chapter 9

"Professor! Professor!" There was a hand brushed across his face, then the sharp prick of a needle in his arm. He blinked and the doctor's face came foggily into view, concerned and staring.

"Rionach!" Xavier pushed himself to his elbows as awareness returned. "Where is Miss Faolan?"

"Whoa." Julian caught him by his shoulders. "Professor, lie still. I found you on the floor. You may be injured. I haven't fully examined you yet."

For a moment he was still, feeling the aches in his body, then pushed away. "I'm fine. I got down on the floor to be with Miss Faolan. Where is she?"

"I don't know." Julian got his arms under the Professor's, helping to lift the older man into his chair. "I woke up on the floor and she was gone. I was going to go after her, then I saw you." He stood back, watching as the Professor rubbed his arms. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I dreamed with her." The Professor moved to the computer in the corner. "It's her mother that she's afraid of. I need to know everything that's available about Niall Faolan's ex-wife. I think wherever she is, that's where we'll find Rionach."

* * *

It was cold, cold in a monochrome way, the grey trunks of the trees barely visible against the white of the snow, the moon dim behind thick and snow drowned branches. Rionach stopped, buried to her thighs in yet another drift, watching the plume of her breath float upward into an empty sky. No smoke… no clouds. She grimaced, focusing as the awareness hit. The cabin ahead was dark.

Panic raced through her. No…

She knew, but she struggled forward anyway, pushing through the door, holding her lantern high as the freckled light crawled across the log walls.

It was cold. The room was empty. She raised the lid of the coffin shaped box in the corner. The blankets were rumpled and thrown back.

Her mother was awake.

And she was gone.

For a moment she sat there, on the side of the box where her mother had been, then she straightened and went over to the table. The roses in the vase were old, long dead, only stems left, and she brushed the petals from the table's rough wooden surface. The bloodstains beneath were old, too, and she sat down, pulling up her sleeves, staring at the cruciate scar. There was a knife in the vase with the roses, and she pulled it out, flinching as she held it over her arm.

She was so very tired.

This was the end.


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you for following and favoring my story! It's so encouraging to a new fanfiction writer. Be sure to review and let me know what you think, and if I'm being confusing, go ahead and tell me. I want mystery and suspense, not frustration!


	11. Chapter 11

"When are you going to tell me what's going on?" Julian sat down at the counter beside the Professor. "All you've said so far as that you know what she is, and that we had to protect the other students—including Saoirse—from her. And now you're acting like she's in danger. I thought that the Faolan girl's mother was dead."

"That's what we were supposed to think." The Professor's attention remained on the computer screen. "And I wasn't wrong before. It's true that she's a dreamweaver, but I didn't understand the pain she caused. I think, now, that she's also what you might consider a conduit. Because her mutant ability is in the subconscious, someone else can use that subconscious to amplify their own abilities, to make themselves more powerful, even though the conduit will absorb some of their ability, as well. I think Rionach has realized that, and she's been fighting back, using her natural ability to control the person who has linked themselves with her, forcing them to sleep. It's difficult to explain, but do you remember the legend of the Twin Soul?"

He remembered something about a shared spirit from one of the Professor's lectures on the significance of mythology, but the details escaped him. "Remember Professor, I work here, not study here. I wasn't exactly raised with a background in mutant history."

The Professor glanced at him, but thankfully didn't comment on that. "Rionach's ability is very powerful. Someone can absorb that power and use it themselves, to amplify whatever ability they have. However, by doing that, they are slowly killing her. What Rionach has obviously realized, is that she can also use that bonding to use their power as well, and in a way, to control them. But—"

He had gone to his own computer now, scrolling back through the recordings of Rionach's brain waves. He could see the shared pattern now. "But she's getting too tired."

There was no reply. He looked over at the Professor. The older man was sitting upright, staring into the distance, unmoving and unfocused.

"Professor?" He got up, turned the chair to face him. The Professor didn't move. "Xavier!"

Everything was white. It was with the electric shock of surprise that the Professor realized his feet were cold. He was standing in snow, and he could feel himself sinking.

 _Professor Xavier…_

The voice was in his mind, yet he heard it clearly. It was rich, soft, Irish.

 _Rionach?_

 _Yes, I'm here_.

He peered, but the white was complete, impenetrable. _I can't see you_.

 _I don't think there's enough of me left to see, Professor_. He could hear the exhaustion in her voice, exhaustion with an edge to it. Determination. _I had to warn you. My mother's awake. She's coming there, for Saoirse. My mother's a pain bringer. Be careful, but don't let her take my sister. I'm going to try to stop her from here, but if I'm too late…_

The horror took his breath away. _There's only one way you can stop her—_

 _I know._

 _Wait! Tell me where you are._ He reached out in his mind, and this time he felt something. She was cold too, and the shadows shifted. He saw a cabin, her figure slumped over a table, the knife gleaming dully in her hand. "Rionach, no!"

 _Take care of my sister._

The connection broke, and the infirmary returned to focus. Julian was leaned over, looking at him, and the brown eyes were pulled together in concern.

"Professor? Was it her?"

"Yes." He began typing frantically into the computer. Property searches, cell phone records, satellite maps. "Call the X-Men and tell them to be ready. Her mother's coming here, for Saoirse."

The doctor slid off the counter, and headed for the door. "I'll get suited up."

"No." He had found what he was looking for, and put out a hand to stop the other man. "I have another assignment for you. There's a cabin, about fifty miles north of here. Rionach's there, and she needs you. I'll print you a map. You'll need to take Scott's car. If you hurry, it may not be too late."


	12. Chapter 12

The screams began less than a half an hour later. Xavier watched the battle through the monitors and in his mind, the helmet on his head as he waited in the Cerebro. The woman who came strolling down the hallway was tall but curvy, with Saoirse's red curls and eyes of a peculiar metallic silver.

 _Rionach's eyes._

So far, there hadn't been a fight. No one had a chance to use their powers. Anyone near her grasped their head and fell over. A 'pain-bringer' was how Rionach had described her. No wonder Julian and Storm had suffered migraines. Connected to her mother as Rionach was, she hadn't been able to completely control the shared power.

They could have used Wolverine right now. Logan understood pain. The poor students did not. They were cowering, screaming, even the X-Men were writhing in pain.

No wonder Rionach was scared for her sister—for all of them.

He looked over at the red-haired girl by his side. She was shaking, her hand on the side of his chair white and ridged.

"Don't worry." He touched her arm. "You're safe here."

Saoirse shook her head. "She knows I'm in here. What if even you can't stop her, Professor?"

The door behind them began to rattle, then spark. He ignored it.

"Do you remember your mother?"

Saoirse shook her head. "Not very much. My father didn't want to talk about her. I remember how upset he was when Rionach went with Momma. I think he saw it as a betrayal. Then he put me here. I never really saw any of them after that."

"Your sister only wanted to protect you. Like I will protect you now." He said it softly, keeping her attention on him, blunting her awareness of the now smoking door behind them.

The Irish girl shook her head. "What if you can't? What if she can't?"

* * *

Rionach felt the pain. She felt it going out of her mother even as Storm managed to hit her with a lightning bolt. The shock was bounced back, and the beautiful white haired woman fell, screaming in the agony. For a moment her mother stood, breathing hard, then she moved to a larger, rounded door. Rionach could see through the other eyes, feel the fury and the rage and the frustration coursing through her mother.

The knife was hovering over her wrist now. She knew what she had to do, but the other instinct warred with the love for her sister. The instinct to survive. It wasn't until the door fell and she saw her sister through her mother's eyes that she knew.

She had no choice now. Her choice had been made years ago, and she had to remind herself that no one had forced her. She had made the choice. She had given herself then. She had loved her mother.

She plunged the knife down.

* * *

Julian managed to get within a mile or two of the cabin's supposed location before the snow stopped him. The roads were covered, the drifts spilling into both lanes, and he hadn't seen a plow for the past ten miles. He left the car in the road and began to run.

* * *

"Arlene Faolan?" Xavier pushed Saoirse behind him as he faced the red-haired woman. "I don't believe we've met before. I'm Professor Xavier."

"Give me my daughter."

"I'm sorry, custody of your daughter was transferred to us upon your ex-husband's death."

The woman was breathing hard now, her chest heaving as she took a step forward. "I want my daughter!"

"Ma'am, think about what you are doing. I know what you are. Your older daughter told me. You are a pain bringer, and you need another's power to survive. You may need your daughter, but is that the sort of life you want for Saoirse?"

"And did my loyal older daughter tell you that she is a pain bringer now, as well? Did she tell you that I wasn't born like this either? I didn't choose my power!" Even through the helmet he could feel a slight twinge as she screamed it. "Rionach chose to be with me. I cannot change who I am now, but I have the right to have my family! My husband took them from me, and I finally got the one back. I want the other now. I want my baby!"

He sensed Saoirse's move from behind his chair, and put a hand out to stop her.

"I'm not a baby any more, Momma." The red-haired girl was shaking, but her voice was steady. "I'm sorry that Daddy didn't—didn't understand people like us, but he did love us."

Arlene Faolan shook her head. "He didn't love me. He took you from me."

"He wanted to protect me."

" _I'm your mother!_ "

The words echoed inside the Cerebro, and Saoirse screamed, grasping her head. The scream echoed, magnifying with each reverberation, and the Professor realized that Arlene was screaming too. He saw then, the blood dripping down her wrist, puddling slowly on the slick ramp beneath her. She held her arm up, staring, her eyes darkening as she screamed again.

" _Rionach! No! Don't do this to us! NO!_ "


	13. Chapter 13

_I'm sorry, Momma._

The blood was dripping off the table now, running down her knees and splattering on her feet. Rionach Faolan was so very cold, so very tired, and the tears on her cheeks were icy.

 _Rionach! No! Don't do this to us!_

 _I'm so sorry. I didn't want to. I tried so hard…But this has to be the end._

 _It isn't fair… why? Why?_

She reached out with the last strength that was left in her, letting her mother feel the warmth, the love that she had always needed, free now of the pain that had invariably been between them. _Because I had to. Because I couldn't let you hurt her. Because I had to save both of you. Because I love you._

Her mother stirred in her mind. _I never wanted to hurt anybody._

 _I know._

 _Rionach?_

 _Yes?_ The connection was growing faint.

 _Thank you. For being strong. When I couldn't be._

 _We'll always be together now._ The light inside was fading, and she whispered it with the last of her strength, hoping her mother could hear. _I love you._

 _I always loved you._ She had waited her entire life to hear the words. It sounded like her mother was standing beside her, and that's when she knew.

It was over. Her mother was dead. Finally, she could sleep.

* * *

The Professor's head exploded in pain, then everything was clear again. He could hear the X-Men running toward him, the excited questions, the echo of feet. Saoirse was sitting, her mother's head in her lap, her school skirt soaking up the spreading blood.

Her eyes were squeezed shut.

He didn't need to be a mutant telepath to know. Even as he reached out with his mind, searching, only darkness met him. He couldn't find Rionach. She had done what she had to do. She had protected her sister. He grabbed the nearest shoulder. "Get this woman on life support. Do it now. Quickly! It may not be too late."

Saoirse's turquoise blue eyes were bloodshot but dry. "What about my sister?"

"I sent the doctor—"

"He won't be in time, will he?"

He began to respond and she stood. "Where is she? Where's my sister?"

* * *

Julian was completely lost. There was no GPS, no signs, nothing like he was used to in the city. All he could see was white, and the faint outline of tree trunks. The snow stung his face, clogged his nose, burned his eyes as he squinted against the wind. Too cold, he stopped, backing into the storm, pulling the map from inside his coat. He had barely unfolded it before the wind caught it, tearing it from his frozen fingers, spinning it away. He cursed, pushing forward again, and that's when he heard it—a distant howling, coming closer, piercing through the harsher howl of the storm. Even as he stumbled to a stop, his heart sprinting in panic, the canine face came into view. It was a coyote—not a wolf as he had so foolishly expected—and the dark eyes stared into his, waiting.

 _Saoirse_.

He followed it. When the log wall appeared before his face, it was a surprise. He turned, but the coyote was gone.

* * *

It was all cycling through her mind—every dream she had ever shared, all the faces, the memories, the feelings. Rionach couldn't reach any of them, but she remembered them. She should have let go, instead she was searching, silently calling, trying to touch a person—anyone. Someone was calling her, over and over, insistent, but the voice was still new, and although she recognized it, the resonance was weak.

 _Hold on, Rionach, hold on. He's coming. Don't let go, your sister's safe…_

It hurt too much and she was tired. She didn't want to hold on anymore. Saoirse was safe. Her mother was dead. There was nothing left to fight.

 _Don't let go, Rionach. Dr. Simon's coming._

She gasped then, and stiffened as the darkness receding and the pain returned. _He's coming. Julian…_


	14. Chapter 14

I'm sorry I haven't been updating this story very quickly. Between work, school, complicated relationships and crap, I have the same excuses all writers have for procrastination! Thank you for your patience, please review if you can. I want to know what you think.

...

"Rionach? Rio!" Julian hit the door hard, letting it crash back against the wall as he ran into the cabin. He lifted his flashlight high. Rionach was at a table in the middle of the room, slumped forward, face down in a pool of crimson. She wore only the thin sweater, and her fingertips were blue. The interior of the cabin was just as cold as the forest and the spilled water from the vase on the table was frozen, a sea of pink and white as it mixed with the blood.

"Oh, Rio, what have you done?" He lifted her arm, seeing the gleaming white flesh gaping at her wrist. She had cut so deep that her wrist was almost completely severed, the bone gleaming and exposed in the wound. She hadn't wanted to fail.

Why hadn't he seen this? How could he have missed the fact that she was suicidal? He searched backward in his memory, but there hadn't been a hint. If anything, he had thought she was trying to live. And now… there was this. The evidence, staring him in the face. He groaned, closing his eyes, then he felt it. An almost imperceptible pulsing. A bit of blood trickled over his fingers.

She was alive. He was almost too late, but… she was alive. He held up his cell phone, unsurprised by yet cursing its lack of reception. Even as he opened his bag, he knew what he had to do. For the first time he was glad he was who he was—that he had the power both to hurt and to heal. He held her arm, feeling the fire build inside him, silently apologizing for the pain he was about to inflict. The fire shot from his fingers, searing the wound. The smell of burning flesh was sickening.

She screamed.

He screamed.


End file.
